Note: I follow these steps and successfully replaced old 250GB with new 750GB drive on Win 7 Prof.
Dell latitude Laptop drives:
_Dell Utility drive (FAT - 40 MB)
_C-OS drive (NTFS - 230 GB)
_E-Recovery drive (NTFS - 750 MB)
Pre-req:
1. Norton Ghost 15 CD (full version - not trail)
2. Win 7 installation DVD (if necessary)
3. New large hard drive
4. Correct size screw driver (to replace screws for drive)
5. Logon on ID for the laptop - which has Administrator permissions
6. A 'second drive' to copy the backup files (i.e. F drive: external USB drive - bigger than the original disk on the laptop)
7. On YouTube/Web - watch any video showing how to replace hard drive for your laptop model
8. On YouTube/Web - watch any video - how to perform backup/restore using Norton 15
Install Norton 15:
1. Install Norton Ghost 15 (use default options)
2. During installation provide Product key
3. After installation perform live update
Take screenshots and remove Password of user id:
1. On the PC, open Computer Management --> Disk Management (takes screenshot -and- saves to F:\pics\Comp-Mgmt.jpg)
2. On the PC, open command prompt --> type Diskpart.
3. At the Diskpart screen type the following commands:
_List disk (take screenshot -and- save to F:\pics\list-disk.jpg)
_Select disk 0
_List partition (takes screenshot -and- saves to F:\pics\list-partition.jpg)
_List volume (takes screenshot -and- saves to F:\pics\list-volume.jpg)
4. Verify all files can be open from F drive (for later use - if necessary)
5. On the PC, open Control Panel --> User Accounts and Family Safety --> change your password --> Remove your password (i.e. make it a blank password)
Perform backup:
1. From Norton Home Page, click --> "Run or Manage Backups"
2. Click -->"Define New"
3. Click --> "Back up my computer" and then click --> Next
4. Click Show Hidden Drives
5. Press and hold Ctrl to select all drives, i.e.:
_Dell Utility (FAT - 40 MB)
_C-OS drive (NTFS - 230 GB)
_E-Recovery drive (NTFS - 750 MB)
6. Click --> Next
7. Click --> Next (for Independent Recovery Point page)
8. For Backup destination - select F:\Norton_Backup (F is external USB drive)
9. On "Options page", select --> "Verify recovery point after creation" and then click --> Next
10. On "Backup time" page, click --> Next
11. Click --> "Backup Now" to start the backup
12. On "Completing the Define Backup Wizard", click --> Run "backup now" and then click --> Finish
Note: Depending upon the size of the drives - it may take two to three hours to complete the backup
13. After the backup is complete, navigate to the F:\Norton_Backup - it should have three files:
PC-Name_xxx.sv2i
PC-Name_C_Drive_xxx.v2i
PC-Name_Dell-utility_xxx.v2i
PC-Name_C-OS_E-Recovery_xxx.v2i
Replace the hard drive:
1. Use the correct size screw driver to take out the two (or four) screws
2. Pull the old hard drive
3. Carefully insert the new hard drive
Restore the drive:
1. Insert Norton 15 CD on the Laptop
2. Restart Dell laptop, and Press F12, and select --> "CD/DVD drive to boot"
3. From Norton Home page, select --> "Recover my computer", click --> Next
4. On "Select a Recovery Point to Restore" page, select --> Dell Utility and click -> Next
5. On "Drives to Recover" page, click --> Edit and verify that No drives are listed - except the following two, (select --> delete drives, if any other drives are listed), i.e.:
_700GB un-allocated
_USB drive
6. Click OK and then on "Drives to Recover" page again, click --> Next to recover the "Dell utility" drive
7. After recovering the drive, go back to "Select a Recovery Point to Restore" page, select --> OS and Recovery drives and click -> Edit
8. For C drive, select --> "Set drive Active (for booting OS) and --> "Restore Original Signature" and then click --> OK
9. On "Drives to Recover" page again, click --> Next to recover the OS and Recovery drives
Note: This may take two to three hours; after the restore is complete, click Restart the computer.
10. After rebooting the computer, if Windows 7 Prof starts, you are done!
Note: If you see the error message --"BootMGR is missing" follow the next section.
Fix BootMgr error (optional):
1. Insert Win 7 Prof DVD
2. Restart Dell laptop, and Press F12, and select --> "CD/DVD drive to boot"
3. Boot off the Windows 7 DVD and then click Next at the first prompt:
4. You should see a link in the lower left-hand side for “Repair your computer”
5. The installation process will attempt to find your Win 7 installation directory. If there’s more than one in the list, select the correct one and then use the Next button again.
6. Computer may restart (so reboot the laptop by Pressing F12 and select --> "CD/DVD drive to boot")
7. Go back to "Repair my computer" screen and click --> Next
8. Click the first link for “Startup Repair”
9. The installation process will repair the system, and then prompt for you to reboot.
10. Remove Win 7 DVD and boot to Windows 7, you are done!